1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to toy trains, and more specifically to accessories for use with toy trains and their respective tracks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Children and adults like to play with toy train sets. A track may be assembled in a variety of configurations, a train is placed on the track, and the user watches it travel around the track. Typically, the track is a closed loop so that the train may repeat a course over and over again. More advanced train systems may have track switching mechanisms which may manually or automatically switch a train from one portion of the track to another.
However, simply watching a train travel around a track may not be sufficiently interesting for some individuals. It is desired to be able to add to the fun and excitement of playing with toy trains.
It is known to provide accessories for toy train tracks for the train to pass through or by, such as a bridge, a tunnel, or a train station. Several prior U.S. patents discuss toy train stations to be used with toy trains and toy train tracks, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,639,548 to Hall; 2,933,854 to Crosman; 5,169,355 to Tammera; and 6,059,237 to Choi (not the present inventor), the teachings of all of which are incorporated by reference herein. None of these prior devices teaches or suggests a simple, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use, and safe device for use with a toy train set. For example, Hall describes a device where a section of track is insulated so that a train passing thereby will stop or slow down for a period of time. However, to re-energize the train, a circuit must be completed through the wheels and other external metallic parts of the locomotive. Deleterious results may occur if a child were to touch the locomotive while it was part of the electrical circuit. Also, Tammera teaches a toy train station in which passengers “board” a train; in reality, they are rotated upwards into the roof of the station, thereby making it seem as if they boarded the train. However, the mechanism for causing the passengers to be rotating the passengers out of view is activated manually by the person playing with the train set; there is no teaching of an automatic aspect of this device. Similarly, Choi teaches the use of a modified train designed to interact with sensors disposable on a track. This device is too complicated for young children to use, since they must carefully place the sensors on the track in a manner that the sensor will detect the train but not interfere with the train's travel.